Just Like Her Sister
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Follows Oh, The Webs We Weave - Emily and Serena have their differences. Serena's tough as nails and can make even the bravest shutter in fear when she wants them to. Emily's soft and sweet. She's everyone's little sister. But they are sisters. They've got to have something in common, right?
1. Sick

_Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made._

A few days after the Spider-Mike incident, the house was getting back to normal. Jayden had burned away all of Mike's spider webs and continuously checked every corner of the house for any signs of the nasty eight-legged creatures from the Netherworld until he was sure they were all gone. With a watchful eye from Ji, Storm was starting to move around a lot more. She kept her distance from Mike and always growled at him when he got too close, but for the most part she was her usual self.

Mike still felt badly for all the chaos he caused as a spider, but with things getting back to normal, so was he. However, he had stopped teasing Jayden about his fear of the small creatures. He heard what the red Ranger had done to help the others capture him and knew he owed Jayden his life. Though he couldn't remember what it felt like, he was positive he didn't want to live the rest of his life as Spider-Mike.

The only difference in the house was Emily, but no one noticed. When she had to be around the others, she masked the pain. Ever since Spider-Mike had attacked her and sliced her knee, it had been in constant throbbing pain. She could barely walk and training was a huge BITCH, but she was confident her knee would recover. All she had to do was hide the pain for a little longer.

As far as she was concerned, none of the Rangers had any idea she was suffering. She used to wonder how Serena hid her illness from the family for a full year before telling them the truth, but now she understood. It took a lot of strength and commitment, but as long as she continued to act like herself, and as long as she always had an excuse to sit down, no one was the wiser.

Until it all started to take its toll on her body. She felt sluggish. This very morning, she was unable to get out of bed. The room spun anytime she sat up, despite sleeping with Mike the furnace and all her blankets she still felt a chill, and she wasn't hungry for breakfast. All she wanted to do was lie in bed, close her eyes and sleep.

She felt Mike press his hand to her forehead, "You're a bit warm, Em."

He was already dressed for training. Normally he was last to be ready, which had been his first sign that Emily wasn't feeling well. She assured him it was nothing to worry about and he believed her. Though the Rangers were in peak condition, they were stressed out constantly from dealing with the Nighlok (and each other). From time to time they did succumb to illnesses and needed to spend a day or two in bed.

Mike gave her a kiss on the forehead, "I'll have Ji make you some chicken soup and I'll see you after training, okay? Just get some rest up."

Emily nodded her head and closed her eyes. Mike tip-toed out of the room to let her sleep. When she heard the door close she sat up, threw off the blankets and unravelled the dressing from around her knee.

Her cuts were red, they were swollen, they were oozing, and they hurt A LOT. As a kid, she hurt herself quite a bit, and some of her cuts, scrapes, and burns had gotten infected. Emily was sure she could treat it, though. The last thing she wanted was Mike to feel like this was his fault, and for the Samurai to get mad at him for it. She grabbed the ointment from her drawer, spread it around the infections, dressed it back up, hid the old dressings until a pile of tissues to make it look like she had a cold, and then snuggled back into her bed and closed her eyes just as Ji walked in with her soup. He set it down beside her on the night table and touched her forehead. Mike hadn't lied when he said she was warm. He touched her shoulder, gently shaking her awake. When she opened her eyes he showed her a thermometer and then stuck it in her mouth. If she had a fever, he wanted to know what he was dealing with.

When it was ready, Ji pulled the thermometer out and hissed. He showed the number to Emily: 104.

"That is high," he told her. Emily nodded her head and closed her eyes. She didn't need to be told the fever was bad. She could feel it, and she knew how to read a thermometer. Serena had plenty of fevers when she had been sick.

As Emily drifted off to sleep, Ji pulled up a chair and sat beside her bed. As far as he could tell she had been fine the night before and now suddenly she had a troublesome temperature and was too sick to get out of bed. He wanted to keep his eye on her.

-Samurai-

Outside, the Rangers were training just like any other day. Mike had explained Emily's absence and the Rangers all promised they would check up on her before the day was done. None of them liked it when a teammate was sick. Serena especially was worried. She always was when a teammate was bedridden due to illness. Given what she had gone through, it was impossible not to feel a little bit of panic. Still now, a year after her recovery, she would wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares of either her own illness, or one of the Rangers or her parents falling ill.

As training came to an end, Serena offered herself as volunteer to clean up. Mike rushed off to his and Emily's room to check up on his fiancée, hoping she was feeling a little better. Serena couldn't bring herself to go just yet. She had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Antonio stayed behind when he saw Serena seemed worried. As she finished putting the swords away he put his hand on her back and smiled brightly.

"Emily's a lot like you, you know."

Serena believed it herself, and Mia had said it after Emily stupidly disregarded her own life to take care of Storm. She hated that about her sister.

"That's not a good thing."

Antonio shook his head, "It's not necessarily a bad thing, either. Emily knows how to take care of herself. We all get sick from time to time and we all bounce back."

"Yeah," Serena nodded her head. She knew she was just being silly. Not every illness she was going to encounter in her life was strong enough to kill. She couldn't stop herself from worrying, but she could calm herself down a little more. She took a deep breath and then smiled at Antonio.

"Why don't we grab one of the games from the common room and we all play?" Antonio suggested. "You know she loves it when we all do something together."

Serena followed Antonio into the house and down to Emily and Mike's room. Just as Mike had promised Emily, he was in the room with her. Emily was fast asleep in the bed but Mike wanted to sit with her until she woke up.

Kevin, Mia, Jayden, and Ji were also there with her but were just about to head out when Serena and Antonio came in. Antonio saw Emily was asleep but figured playing a game would still be fun. He asked Serena to get the board and told everyone to sit down. Even Ji was forced to play.

Serena came back with the board and while the Samurai set up the game she had a look at her sister. Emily did feel warm when Serena touched her forehead, but she had wrapped herself up tightly in the blankets as though she was cold. Her face was pale and had a slight look of discomfort. When Serena looked to the night table, she saw the soup Ji made her a couple of hours before hadn't been touched.

"Any idea, Ji?" she asked. The older man shook his head.

"The flu is my best guess," Ji answered. He tapped the empty space on the floor, "Come, sit. She will be fine."

Serena did as she was told and sat down beside the board. She picked her pawn and rolled the die to see if she would be the one to go first. She rolled a five, highest roll went first.

Antonio rolled a six.


	2. Strong Like Serena

Emily couldn't stay in bed for long. After a full day bedridden she was going to have to get up or the Rangers were going to start worrying, and once they started, they weren't going to stop.

She set the alarm to wake her up bright and early. Alarm clocks never woke Mike up so she didn't have to worry about him. She pulled herself from the bed and went to the bathroom right away. She got washed up, enjoying the cool shower. Her fever hadn't yet broken and so the cool water felt very good. It would also cool her down enough for the Rangers to believe she was feeling better. She brushed her teeth and did her hair. Appearance was everything when trying to fool her friends that she was okay. If she was going to act the part, she was going to look the part. And although it killed her to stand up straight, she was going to have to bit her tongue and carry on. Her knee would heal, she believed it. All she had to do was wait.

While her parents had tried to shelter her quite a bit growing up, Emily had a tendency of finding herself in the small corners of the house, sometimes going completely unnoticed while her parents had private conversations about matters they didn't want her to worry about. One of those conversations that she heard happened to be her parents talking with Serena about how far spread her illness had gotten after only one appointment to the doctor. Emily listened as her sister admitted to hiding her illness and she listed all the things she had done to make sure her parents wouldn't notice. Keeping herself well groomed had been a big part of the act. Emily still remembered her sister's list word for word. It terrified her. For years, Emily would keep a watchful eye on her sister to make sure Serena wasn't hiding anything else lethal.

But that also taught Emily what to do to hide her pain. She put her make-up on to artificially bring the colour back to her face and make herself look good as new. By the time she was done, it was time to get ready for training. Now came the hard part – acting like there was nothing wrong. She put her training uniform on, pulling the pants down below her knee to hide the dressing. She put her shirt on, tied the belt, and then stepped back into her room. She walked around to Mike's side of the bed and woke him up.

"C'mon, sleepy-head," she chuckled. Though she looked and sounded like her regular self, she couldn't wait for bedtime, where she could go back to bed and sleep like the dead, and pretend her feeling sick was just her feeling tired.

Mike rolled over and saw her up and about. He smiled, "Hey, feeling better?"

"Much," Emily nodded. She gave Mike a kiss and then walked out of the room so he could get ready. Mike sat up in bed and watched her leave. Something didn't seem right. With her cheery attitude came a bounce. Literally, she would bounce around when she moved from one spot to another. This morning, even with the giggle, the smile, and the happy-go-lucky attitude, there was no bounce. But she had been sick the day before, with a high fever. Though she felt better, her body was probably still adjusting to being back to normal. Mike shrugged it off and got ready for training.

Emily walked into the kitchen and poured some food in the dog bowl for Storm. The dog, like Emily, had a sore leg and limped around the house. But, unlike Emily, she was letting the Samurai take care of her. Her wound had closed up and she was moving around with a lot more ease now. There was a small limp, but nothing to hold her back. She raced to her bowl and buried her face in her food.

Serena was next to arrive in the kitchen and she saw Emily up and about. The first thing she did was touch Emily's forehead. Her little sister was still a little warm, but that was expected. She was moving around like usual, and smiling, and there seemed to be nothing wrong.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Serena asked and gestured to the training uniform, "You can skip this morning and train tonight. You should rest a little more."

"I'm fine," Emily promised. The toast popped out of the toaster and she offered it to Serena, "Hungry?"

Serena nodded her head. Emily put the toast on a plate for her sister. When Serena saw Emily wasn't making anything for herself she had to ask, "What are you eating?"

"I already ate," Emily had been smart enough to pull a plate from the dishwasher and pretend it was hers. She wasn't hungry in the slightest and couldn't even think of eating without making herself sick. She loaded the plate back into the dishwasher and smiled, "I was up early."

"Take it easy today, okay," Serena said. "I know you think you're feeling better, but you shouldn't work too hard."

"I won't, I promise," Emily nodded. She walked out of the room and headed for the yard to warm up for training. Serena finished her toast and went to put her plate away. She opened the dishwasher and stuck it in. Then she remembered to grab herself something to drink. There was no sense training if she was dehydrated. She poured herself some water, gulped it down and then opened the dishwasher again. This time she pulled out the top rack.

It was completely emptied. Jayden's chore this week was unloading the dishwasher every night and he hadn't failed to do so. Serena had seen him. Of course, before the Samurai went to bed, the dishes were already starting to be loaded in. They all enjoyed a few late night snacks.

But there were no cups. No one had had anything to drink. Serena knew the others were still in their rooms getting ready and so they hadn't used any dishes this morning. Any glasses they had taken the night before were likely still in their rooms and would be loaded in when they came into the kitchen.

But Emily was up and she had eaten, as far as Serena was concerned. And yet there was no cup, which means she either drank right from the sink like an animal, which she never did because there were so many cups available, or she hadn't had anything to drink at all.

Serena slammed the dishwasher shut and followed her sister outside. Emily knew how important it was to stay hydrated, especially when she was sick. If she wasn't drinking even a few sips of water, what the hell was she doing?

Serena watched her sister from the patio. Emily was warming up like usual.

"_I already ate,"_ Serena heard Emily's voice echo in her head. She didn't sound like she was lying, and Emily was a terrible liar. The only time she could lie convincingly was when she was hiding something.

Either Emily was speaking the truth or she had a secret.

Serena watched her closely. Her sister was a lot like her. More and more every day.

And it wasn't a good thing.

-Samurai-

"Good," Ji nodded his head as he watched the Rangers practice. Now his job was mostly just encouragement. Though perfection was impossible, the Rangers had all become masters of their own style. Very rarely did he have to correct their technique or offer pointers.

He did lift Antonio's sword a little higher, but that was just to remind the gold Ranger to keep going. The sun was hot, even for the early hours of the morning, and the Rangers were growing tired. Ji would cut training short, but he wanted them to last a few more moments. Nighlok dried out faster when the weather was warmer, because like humans they dehydrated quickly under the hot sun (a reason why Nighlok attacks weren't as common in the summer). However, Nighlok did still come out, and the extreme heat wouldn't hold some of them back. The Rangers needed to learn to fight under any circumstances.

When Antonio was back in a proper stance Ji stepped back and looked to Emily. Because she needed to take it easy after spending the day sick in bed, Ji had her train with Mia. The pink Ranger knew how to be gentle yet effective when it came to training and would be a perfect pair for Emily on this day.

After a couple more minutes, Ji called for the end of the session. The Rangers all dropped their swords and fell to the ground, lying on their backs. They were hot.

"Summer's officially started," Mike chuckled. "Dudes, I love the sun as much as the next guy, but can someone turn it down a few degrees."

"Tanning time," Antonio smirked and sat up to roll up his pants. He lay back down, putting his hands behind his head and basked in the sun, "I'm going to be a golden god by the end of the day."

"Or burnt," Kevin stated bluntly.

Mia laughed, "We'll have two red Rangers then."

"Speaking of burning," Mike looked over to Emily, who had fallen over with the others, "How are you feeling, Em? You should probably get into the shade soon. Maybe even a cool shower. I'll let you go first this time."

There was no answer from Emily. Mia, who was closest, reached out and poked her arm.

"Emy?"

There was still no answer. Serena bolted up, rushing to her sister's side. She knew there was something wrong. Ji was also next to her in a flash, checking her temperature. He had had his doubts about letting her train, but Emily insisted and acted like she was better. He shouldn't have believed her. Just as he was about to start barking out orders for the Samurai to help him with Emily, she tensed up. Before Ji could even begin to wonder what was happening, she started to twitch. Ji backed away, jumped to his feet and raced inside.

The other Samurai watched helplessly as the twitching eventually subsided. Serena felt sick to her stomach.

_Serena had been feeling ill for a long time, but refused to believe it was anything serious. She had a responsibility to become the yellow Ranger and would not let that duty fall on her baby sister's shoulders. Emily could barely survive elementary school bullies. There was no way she would be able to survive the Nighlok attack._

_As Serena played the flute to sooth her sister and dry her tears, she felt the world start to spin. She missed a few notes and found herself short of breath. She pulled the flute away from her mouth and started to cough. Little Emily looked on with worry. Serena tried to supress her coughs, but there was nothing she could do. The more she resisted, the stronger they got, pushing their way from her lungs until Serena couldn't catch her breath anymore. She couldn't even hear her little sister screaming over the sound of her coughs._

_Then, blackness._

Serena heard sirens wailing in the background she was pulled from her sister's side. Paramedics, bearing the Samurai emblem on their uniforms, carried her sister away.

Two arms wrapped themselves around her. They were Mike's arms.

"She's strong," Mike whispered. His voice was shaky. "She'll be okay. She's strong like you."

Serena gulped. Those were the least comforting words she had ever heard in her entire life.


	3. Stupid Choices

_Thump, thump, thump._

_Thump, thump, thump._

_Thump, thump, thump._

All Ji could hear was his heart going _thump, thump, thump._

Nighlok, he could handle. Serious injuries were a breeze. One of his Rangers falling over unconscious, with a high fever, and having a seizure scared him to death. He had called his friends at the hospital and had them send out a special team for Emily because his hands were too shaky to do anything.

_Thump, thump, thump._

_Thump, thump, thump._

_Thump, thump, thump._

Guilt, all he could feel was guilt. She had been sick only the day before. The weather was hot – really hot. He shouldn't have let her train. Though she was an adult and she was capable of making her own decisions and taking care of herself, he was mentor. Her parents had trusted him to keep her safe.

After a few hours of waiting for news, the phone rang. All eyes fell on him. The Samurai were terrified of answering it. Ji swallowed his fear, so it was still inside him, but he suppressed it long enough to pick up the phone and say: "Hello?"

That was the call. The call that meant everyone could finally see Emily. Ji gave them the nod they were waiting for and they all raced out the door, following Jayden's directions.

After Dr. Harada had been fired from his job as doctor to the Samurai, Ji had to come up with a whole new way of ensuring the Samurai would be well looked after if things got too complicated for him. Though he knew almost everything he needed to know about treating injuries and reversing Nighlok spells, the Samurai were also like his children. He would fight to give them another day, but sometimes his emotions got the better of him, clouding his judgement. It was important to have someone else, or even a team, on hand who knew what they were doing and who weren't as closely connected to the Samurai.

Using his connections, he got a team of doctors and nurses from the hospital that he knew he could trust. They mostly consisted of his friends, but one or two of them were new and needed to be informed of the Nighlok, the Samurai, their families, their identities, and all the other secrets the Samurai kept. They were paid by Ji to keep themselves up to date on the Nighlok attacks and the injuries the Samurai received in each and every battle. Ji knew the human body was unpredictable. A wound that looked like it was minor could turn out to be deadly. They called at the end of every battle to get their information, and they were also responsible for filling up Ji's first aid kits when he started to run low on surprises.

They had their own little hospital not too far away from the Shiba House, but still isolated in the woods where no one, not even the Nighlok, would think to look. They had taken Emily there to examine her. They couldn't bring her to a regular hospital, just in case they found she was sick with Sanzu poisoning or until the spell of a Nighlok. How would they explain that to their everyday co-workers?

It also gave Ji and the Samurai a few more liberties. They were allowed to visit when they wanted. Ji didn't have to prove he was responsible for Emily. The staff there knew he was her mentor and he was in charge of making the decisions she couldn't make for herself.

Though they hadn't been called into duty yet, Ji knew they were well trained for everything. They were smart, they were well informed. When Nighlok activity was slow, they called the Shiba House just to ask if anything had happened at home that they should know about. Trips, slips, and falls; cuts, scratches, bruises… there was always a full list, especially from Emily the house klutz.

But no one knew about this. The doctors told him of a severely infected cut on her knee, one Ji had no idea about. He didn't know about it, because Emily had kept it hidden from him and the rest of the Samurai. The infection had made her sick. The infection gave her the fever and because of the fever and the sun raising the temperature in her body, she had had her seizure.

The Samurai took the van and sped through the forest. Because it was an unmarked road there was no speed limit, but Ji knew the Samurai would be speeding regardless. He took his motorcycle and trailed behind the Samurai, arriving at the hospital only a few minutes after them. While they had darted to the room, pushing by all the doctors and nurses, Ji stopped at the front desk.

"You called just in time," the nurse at the counter assured him with a hand on his back, "You did all you could do."

"It's not enough," Ji shook his head. All he could see in his mind was Emily shaking, having her seizure. He felt fear, panic, and humiliation. He had forgotten everything he knew in that moment and lost the ability to help her. He couldn't afford that if it happened again. It wouldn't happen again.

It shouldn't have happened once. Ji smashed his fist into the desk and stormed into Emily's room. She was awake, but barely. He pushed his way past Jayden and Kevin and stood at the foot of her bed.

"What the hell were you thinking!" he screamed, louder than ever before. Emily's watery eyes flooded down her cheeks when he yelled. Ji punched the bed, "Do you have any idea how stupid that was?"

"Ji, stop yelling," Serena demanded while trying to keep her voice calm. Emily deserved to know just how stupid she had been, but she wasn't ready to be yelled at. Recovery started with the mind, and if everyone was yelling at her, she would beat herself up. That was no way to heal.

"Stop yelling?" Ji yelled. He punched the bed again and looked Serena in the eyes, "She's just like you!"

Serena nodded. Finally someone who knew what he was talking about.

Ji turned his attention back to Emily, "Do you have any idea how scared you made us?"

"Mentor…"

"Shut up!" Ji screamed. He gave the bed one more punch and then stormed out of the room to calm himself down. When he was gone, Emily looked around the room at her friends, horrified.

"I'm sorry."

"We'll worry about that later," Serena gently brushed her hair away from her face, "Just rest, okay?"

Emily nodded her head. From the bag he had brought for her, Jayden pulled out the stuffed dog he and Antonio bought Emily for her seventeenth birthday. Coincidentally, it looked a lot like Scruffy. Emily's eyes watered a little more when she saw it, but she took it in her arms and hugged it close to her chest. She closed her eyes and with a soft hummed tune from Serena, she fell right to sleep. When she was out, Jayden turned to Serena.

"Ji didn't mean that…"

"He meant every word," Serena nodded, "And it's okay. I know what I did. I know how stupid it was. I'm sorry guys; I taught her this was okay."

"She's like you in a good way too," Mia said with a smile and then excused herself from the room.

Antonio shook his head, "Um, maybe I missed something, but I don't think you're anything like each other. I mean, sure you both pretended not to be sick until it got really bad but you're… well, Serena and she's Emily."

Mike furrowed his brow, "And I'm Mike, that's Kevin. Your boyfriend is Jayden and…"

"I dunno," Antonio shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe it's just me."


	4. Little Lessons

Mia had a few choice words for Ji for yelling at Emily. Though Emily had done something incredibly stupid, it was obvious that her waking up alone and in pain in the hospital had scared her to death. She was sick, she felt weak, and right before the Rangers had arrived, the doctors had told her that if she waited any longer for help, they would have had to cut off her leg. Yelling at Emily right after all that had been the stupidest thing Ji had ever done.

Then Mia saw him down the hall, sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. She sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"That was my first seizure too," she whispered. "I mean, I've heard Emily talk about Serena having them. I've heard Emily talk about Serena getting sick, but seeing it really happen was scary."

Ji wiped his eyes. He wouldn't cry in front of his Samurai but Mia pulled him into her arms.

"It's okay, Mentor. You did exactly what you needed to do…"

"You Samurai have no idea how much I worry," Ji whispered as he pulled away from Mia. He focused his eyes on the opposite wall, "When your parents were Rangers, they talked about you all the time. At first I had no way to relate to them. Jayden's father was still alive so I had no children of my own, I might never have my own child. Eventually, I thought I understood what it was like to have a child because of all the stories your parents shared. I thought I could understand how much they loved you, how worried they were for you, how proud they were of you… but I had no idea. I've told you Samurai, you are my children. Until you have your own, you will have no idea what this feels like."

Mia nodded her head, "I guess I can't pretend to know what it's like to be in your shoes," she lowered her head and looked down to her hands, "It must be a lot of pressure. Sobo and my mother always told me to listen to you, to do as you said. They told me you would take care of me. That's a lot of pressure."

Ji sighed. He took Mia's hand in his, "Long ago, after your parents came face to face with Xandred, after Jayden's father did all he could to seal Xandred away but failed, your parents knew this way your destiny. Before going home, they were mortified. Their babies were one day going to fight the monster that killed their strongest. All I could do for them back then was swear that when the time came, I would protect you all. I would do everything in my power to make sure you all went back home safe and sound. I never expected the job to be easy, but I never expected it to be this hard."

"Ji," Mia gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "You're doing an amazing job. When the time comes, when Xandred does come back, I'm going to give that fight my all and I know I might not come back. So I'll tell you this now," Mia leaned over and gave Ji a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you for everything. You were the greatest surrogate father anyone could ever ask for."

"Thank you, Mia."

-Samurai-

Mike watched the fluids from the IV drip into the tube leading into Emily's hand. The fluids were helping Emily fight the infection, along with a lot of attention from the doctors as well as other medications. Mike couldn't believe how much she needed when only a few days ago, a simple first aid kit and a watchful eye would have been sufficient.

Serena had stepped out of the room, saying she was going to grab some take out for the Rangers, and she probably was, but Mike knew she had gone to cry. This was basically her life turned around and he knew it was too much for her. Though the doctors promised Emily would be okay, this was way too familiar for Serena.

Kevin sat in the corner of the room, going through the charts and notes the doctors had left. He wanted to know all he could know about what was going on. He always needed to know exactly what was going on.

Jayden had gone with Serena to get the take-out. Mike hoped he knew what he was in for by going with Serena. But Jayden did have a determined look on his face, like no matter what he was going to force Serena to let all her emotions out. Apparently earth Samurai had a nasty habit of hiding their pain.

Antonio said in a chair, shaking his head. Mike could see him doing so from the corner of his eyes and it was distracting him from watching the drip. He finally turned to the gold Ranger, "What?"

"I mean, sure, they've both been infected and they let it get bad, but Emily and Serena are nothing like each other."

"Drop it, dude."

Antonio sighed, "I'm just saying. Well, really, they're the same opposites. Two sides of the same coin. Serena doesn't want people to worry about her. She wants to protect, not be protected. Emily doesn't want to worry people. She doesn't want them to feel like they need to protect her."

"So?"

"Different."

"Your point?"

Antonio pointed to Emily's knee, "Your claws were sharp when you were Spider-Mike."

"I would never hurt her."

"You weren't you," Antonio said. "We all saw it. The morning after we all found out you were a spider, Emily snuck out with Storm to pee. That's how you hurt the dog. When we found out, you were attacking Emily."

Kevin nodded his chair, "You were dangerous, Mike. And this isn't one of Mia's romance movies. Just because you love Emily, doesn't mean looking into her eyes will break the curse. You were going to eat her."

Antonio held his hand out. He knew his and Mike's hands were approximately the same size. He did his best to imitate Mike's claws and held his hand over Emily's knee. Antonio's hand was a near perfect match. When Mike held his hand up, just to see, it was a perfect match. Mike grabbed his head in his hands.

"Dammit."

"She didn't want you to worry. She didn't want you blaming yourself. If that had been Serena, she wouldn't have told us because she wouldn't want us to fuss over her. It's similar, but completely different when you think about it."

"Antonio."

"Yeah?"

"Fuck you," Mike leaned back in the chair. Antonio was exactly right and he hated that. Antonio just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his seat.

-Samurai-

Jayden insisted he drive into the city. Serena was in no state to safely operate a blender, never mind a car.

His father had prepared him for what he thought would be the worst. Injured teammates, seemingly hopeless battles, disagreements that threatened to tear the team apart. He even prepared him for things like failure and disappointment. But his father had never prepared him for this.

"_One day, the great responsibility of being the red Ranger will fall to you. Remember: protect the world from evil, stand by your allies, never run from a battle."_

Those words were the most vivid memory Jayden had of his father, and while they had served him well, they were no longer of any use to him. His team were more than just allies. He felt like he had more to protect than just the world. His family, all the people he cared for, his future, and their futures were all in danger and it was up to him to lead them as far as he could to victory.

And running from a battle? His father made it seem like retreating was never a good idea, but sometimes, all he could do was run. Sometimes, it was best to live to fight another day. Pick your battles, Jayden had learned that.

With one hand, he reached out and touched Serena's arm. She looked to him and let him take her hand.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

_Serena was in the eighth grade. Emily was in kindergarten. It was supposed to be the very best year for the two of them. Emily would go to school, make some friends her age, learn new things, and play all day. Serena was the oldest grade and therefore, of all the students, she and her friends were in charge. There was no one bigger or scarier than the eighth graders, which gave her all the power._

_Instead, it was the start of a horrible journey. Emily struggled in school, none of the other kids let her play the games she wanted to play, and she wasn't even allowed to play with the others kids. They would tease her, call her names, push her around. Even a few of the older kids, who had no business going near the kindergarten class, would sneak onto their playground just to pick on Emily. One day, it went as far as one of the kids breaking her arm. Serena, who had been in the gym helping her class get everything ready for the graduation that night, didn't know about the incident until one of her friends came back from the office and said there was an ambulance parked outside. Moments later, Serena was called to the office._

_She missed graduation to sit by her sister's bed and sooth the five year-old._

That had been the start of many scares: head injuries, broken bones, near-accidents, then Nighlok, creepy stalkers, and more Nighlok.

"Other times Emily was taken to the emergency room."

"Accident prone," Jayden nodded. "I believe it."

"A kid in my class once broke her arm because he thought it would be fun to push her off the play structure."

"What did you do to him?" Jayden chuckled, turning to Serena. She shrugged innocently.

"I dunno. No one ever heard from him again. It couldn't have been something I did. I politely told him to stay the fuck away from my sister."

Jayden glanced to her suspiciously, "Serena, when it comes to Emily you don't know how to politely treat people who've hurt her."

"He walked away," Serena said.

"Paramedics walking him out on a stretcher does not count as him walking away."

"I was only fourteen. I couldn't have hurt him that badly."

Jayden gave Serena another look, "When you were fourteen _I_ was deadly. You would have been older and more experienced. I don't want to know what you did to that kid – for legal purposes."

"Okay," Serena said. Now Jayden was curious, but not curious enough to ask. For all he knew, there were cops still out there looking for Serena.

"So, you missed graduation?"

"It was just eighth grade," Serena shrugged. "Everyone graduates eighth grade."

Jayden shook his head, "But that was your only graduation."

"I watched Barney in a hospital room with my sister and when she was feeling better she drew me a diploma. She spelt my name wrong, but I framed it. The school mailed me the other one, but I lost that."

Jayden stopped the car in front of the restaurant. He turned to Serena with a smile.

"She'll be okay. She is like you, Serena, in the best way possible."

"How is being like me a good thing?"

"She's got a family that loves her," Jayden opened the door, "She learned that from you too."


	5. The Hospital Room

From what Mike could see, Emily's recovery was going well. The colour was starting to return to her face, her fever was going down, and the doctor was visiting less and less. Although that helped to calm him down because he no longer needed to worry about how bad a state she had put herself in, he was still not happy.

And he wouldn't be happy until he talked with her.

She rolled over in bed, her eyes fluttering open slowly and she smiled when she saw he was still sitting with her. She had no doubt he would be near her constantly while she was in the hospital, but she loved how he was always right where she needed him to be.

"Good morning."

"Afternoon," Mike corrected her. "You've been asleep for a long time. When those drugs knock you out, they really knock you out."

"Can't say I had much energy to start with. I was pretty tired before they drugged me."

"About that; what were you thinking, Em? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?

Emily sighed and pulled herself up in her bed, "I'm sorry, Mike…"

"I cut you, didn't I?" he pointed to her knee, "When I was Spider-Mike, I attacked you. Tell me the truth, Emily."

"It was my fault. I went out on my own…"

"This is why we're always protecting you, Emily. When we leave you on your own you do stupid shit like this. Not only did you put your own life in danger, but you put Storm at risk too, and the others. They had to react on the spot, without a plan…"

"I get it," Emily lowered her head, "I know what I did was stupid…"

"And that's not even the stupidest thing you've done this week! Why the hell didn't you tell anyone you were hurt? Why didn't you get help for those cuts, Emily? When you started feeling sick that should have been the straw that broke the camel's back! You pretended like it was nothing…"

"I didn't want you feeling bad. If I told you that you hurt me, you would have blamed yourself and…"

"Rightfully so! I let myself turn into a spider by doing the exact same shit you did! All this is my fault, and I'm more than happy to take the blame for it. I'd hate myself for hurting you, but I'd hate myself even more if I had killed you."

"That wouldn't have been your fault…"

"I cut you, Em! You were trying to protect me by hiding it. It all falls on me!" Mike took her hand gently, "I appreciate you looking out for me, Emily, but you should know how I feel about you by now. You should know that above everything else, I want you happy, safe, and healthy."

"I want the same for you."

"Then think a little smarter," Mike looked her right in the eye. "You're right. I'd have blamed myself for hurting you. I'd have beaten myself up too. But knowing nothing terrible came from it would have helped me get over it. You wouldn't be here, in the hospital, and I wouldn't be asking myself why you're such an idiot."

Mike climbed up onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her, "From now on, zero secrets. Even if we think it's going to hurt the other person, we'll tell each other everything. That's the only way this is going to work. The only way we're both going to survive," Mike chuckled and kissed her forehead, "Is that a deal?"

"Deal."

-Samurai-

Mia and Kevin had returned home to the Shiba House. While the others were spending the night in the spare room at the hospital, they had come home to look after Storm. The poor dog had no idea what was going on and had never been left alone in the house before. Mia and Kevin had come home to a crying dog the night before and had no choice but to sleep with her in the common room unless they wanted to hear her crying all night.

Now, at lunch time, Storm was always around either Mia's or Kevin's feet. She was never without one of the Rangers by her side. She even went as far as trying to follow them into the bathroom. Though she was feeling better now that she had some company in the house, it was obvious she was still upset. Mia walked out of the bathroom and saw the dog whining in the hallway, begging for some attention. Mia picked her up and sighed.

"I know, I know, we're missing a lot of people," she walked the dog back to the common room and set her down by her basket of toys, "They'll be home soon."

Kevin came back inside from watering Ji's garden. The older man loved taking care of his plants, and it would be a shame to see them go to waste, especially when most of what he planted was vegetables the Rangers used for cooking. Fresh produce was always the best. Kevin saw Storm trying to jump up on the couch with Mia, still begging for her attention, though Mia seemed rather annoyed. Whenever Storm would climb up onto her lap, she would put the dog down on the other cushion.

"That's enough," she told her.

"What happened to your maternal instincts?" Kevin chuckled. He picked Storm up and let her sit on his lap.

"I can't go anywhere without hearing her whine," Mia said, "There's only so much I can take. Now I understand my grandmother's quiet hour."

"Storm's usually pretty independent," Kevin looked down at the dog who was nudging his hand, begging to be pet, "You don't think she knows, do you?"

"Knows what?"

"What happened to Emily."

"I'm sure she knows Emily's missing. She's pretty attached to her. But could she really know Emily's sick?"

"Scruffy used to know," Kevin nodded his head. "Sometimes he would know before we would. I remember him following me around the day before I got that cold."

"Storm and Scruffy aren't the same, Kevin…"

"They're both dogs," Kevin lifted Storm and looked her in the eyes, "You know, don't you? You knew Emily was sick and now you think she's gone."

"Do you think the doctor would let Storm visit?" Mia asked. "I'd do anything to stop the whining."

"A dog in a hospital?"

"A hospital with only one patient."

"Still. Hospitals are sterile and… no place for a dog and her germs. What if Storm brings in a disease or something?"

"Storm carrying a disease?" Mia laughed. It was funny because Storm was a very clean dog. She groomed herself, avoided mud and dirt, and loved the bath she had taken only a few days before. "Kevin, she's just like you when it comes to hygiene. Mike's probably got a better chance of giving Emily a second infection than Storm does."

"What if we go and Emily's sleeping? Storm will wake her up."

"You don't want to go back there, do you?" Mia asked. She stood up from the couch, "Alright, you can deal with the whining for another day or so. I'm going to take a nap.

As she walked out of the room, Storm was instantly up and alert. She started whining as she jumped off Kevin's lap and followed Mia. Then, halfway down the hall she realized Kevin hadn't come with her. Her whining grew louder. She ran back to the common room to make sure he was still there and he hadn't left her.

"It's okay, Storm. Everyone's going to be home soon."

That didn't sooth the dog. She ran over to the window, propped herself up so she was looking outside and started crying. Kevin tried to tune it out, but eventually he had enough.

"Our kids are going to get everything they want if they cry," he muttered as he picked Storm up and carried her to the door, "Mia! Let's go take her to the hospital! It's worth a shot!"

Mia came out of the bedroom, "I knew it wouldn't take you long."

Kevin stuck out his tongue and clipped on the collar and leash. As soon as he opened the door, Storm started pulling, like she knew exactly where everyone was and she couldn't wait to see them again.

-Samurai-

"Seen it!"

Emily groaned at Antonio's comment and snatched the remote from Jayden's hand. The Samurai, minus Kevin and Mia, were sitting in her room with her trying to find something on TV that they would all enjoy. Unfortunately, they all had very different tastes and it was hard finding something they all agreed on. Emily decided she would settle this fair and square.

"My hospital room, I get to choose what's on TV," she flipped through the channels until she found the cartoons. She laughed as the dog ran into the wall. Ji rolled his eyes and Jayden groaned. They had never been fans of cartoons. Antonio, Mike, and Emily all had their eyes glued to the screen as they watched. Serena was completely indifferent. After all, these cartoons were already a step up from the Barney marathon Emily forced her to watch.

After her talk with Jayden, Serena was feeling a bit better. After all her mistakes in life, the last thing she wanted was to see Emily following in her footsteps. It was a horrible enough living her life, she couldn't do it all again. She wanted to protect her sister from the cruelty of the world, not guide her right into it.

But at the same time, not everything in her life was bad. Though Serena had been a bit of a bad influence on her sister, the good parts of her had rubbed off on Emily too. Despite all the stupidity, Emily was smart and strong enough to stand up for herself now. As she had proven that time when the Nighlok forced everyone under his eating spell but Emily, she was tough enough to stand on her own two feet and even pull the weight of her entire team. She had also managed to find herself a place where she belonged. When Serena had been sick, her friends and family surrounded her, offering her their full support. Anything Serena needed, she got. It was the same with Emily and the Samurai. No matter how much she worried them and no matter how many stupid things she did, she could always count on her friends – her family.

"Emy," she whispered, stealing her sister's attention from the TV for a moment, "Never, ever do this again, understood?"

"I promise," Emily nodded. Serena smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Good. I'm proud of you."

Emily's eyes lit up. It wasn't the first time Serena said those words, and certainly not the last, but Serena was her biggest role model. She was always happy to hear those words from her older sister.

Just then there was a knock on the door and it opened. The first thing to come through was an excited Storm who raced around the room, sniffing everyone and wagging her tail excitedly. Finally, she had found them all.

"We missed you too," Antonio said as Storm sniffed his feet. He picked her up and placed her on the bed. Storm rushed to Emily, jumping onto her chest and licking her face. Emily giggled and cuddled her dog.

Mia and Kevin were next to walk into the room. They didn't start sniffing everyone like the dog, but they were happy to see everyone. The Shiba House was too big for two people. They had no idea how Ji and Jayden managed it for years.

"She cried all night," Mia said. "We had no choice."

"She missed Emily?" Jayden asked.

"Missed is an understatement," Kevin laughed. "A big, big understatement."

"Antonio, can I have that pillow?" Emily asked, pointing to the pillow Antonio was using to make his seat more comfortable. Antonio nodded his head, assuming she needed it to cushion her knee a little more. He gently tossed it over. Emily set it down beside her and Storm got settled on top of it. Antonio huffed.

"I thought you were going to use it."

"Storm needs a bed."

"You're small, she's small, the bed is big and comfy enough. There's more than enough room for both of you to be comfortable."

"She likes it," Emily pointed to the dog, who was lying on her back on the pillow, begging Serena for a tummy rub.

"You love that dog more than you love me, don't you?" Antonio pouted.

"Aw," Emily reached out and touched his arm, "Antonio, of course I love her more. She's cute and cuddly. You smell like fish. Raw fish. And not the sushi kind. The smelly kind."

"She smells like dog," Antonio muttered as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Emily stuck her tongue out playfully then lay down in bed and cuddled with Storm.

"Emily just prefers the smell of dog over fish," Jayden chuckled. He gave Antonio a kiss.

"That explains why she likes Mike," Kevin smirked. Mike turned to the blue Ranger.

"Dude, we're teasing Antonio."

"I always find a way to tease you."

"While we're on Mike…"

"Don't you dare get started," Mike turned to Serena. She pulled out her Samuraizer and traced a symbol. A notebook appeared in her hand. She opened it up, cleared her throat and read the first page.

"My list of insults and put downs for my dear brother in-law, who I am forced to love."

"Admit it," Mike smirked, "You love me for real."

"I hate how I love you," Serena said. She looked to the first line, "Number one…"

"LALALA…"

"Guys! Shh!" Mia pointed to the bed. Emily and Storm had both fallen asleep. While the Samurai were distracted with clearing away from her to give her some room on the bed, Mia grabbed the remote. The others all thought she was going to turn the volume on the TV down so it wouldn't wake Emily. Instead, she changed to channel to a show about brides. The room groaned but Mia put her finger to her lips, silencing them. "Shut up or you'll wake Emily."

Mia grabbed an empty chair and put her feet up on the end of Emily's bed. She tucked the remote in her shirt so no one was tempted to steal it.

Serena glanced at the green notebook of insults for Mike and sighed, "I'll need to start making a pink one if she keeps doing this."

"Shh, this is the good part."

"This is as good as it gets?" Mike muttered, "Ugh, shoot me now."


End file.
